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. that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins right now. bracing for the big one. two winter storms about to merge into a monster blizzard for parts of the northeast. american spy secrets exposed? iran claims it has hacked into a captured u.s. drone.

we have a live report. and, john t is high drama on capitol hit. president obama's big pick for cia director up for con fir make in a few hours. but will members of his own party derail it? >> i don't know. >> lots of drama. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolinment. >> i'm john berman. it's thursday, february 7th. 5:00 a.m. in the east. let's get started. up first, brace yourselves, bundle up, buy a shovel. this will be a big one. at this moment a blaizzard watc is in effects for new england. a storm is headed that way and could be historihistoric. it could drop two feet of snow in some places and it all starts tomorrow. you told us this was coming yesterday, you were on top of this one. >> we're trying. boston could rival its worst blizzard from 2003 which had 27 1/2 inches.

all of this talks about two storm systems coming together. the first one here, notice in the south, all instability, a tornado warming out there for plaquemines parish. this is moving off to the east. we will watch this produce heavy showers even through atlanta. a low will form, become a rain and wind event as it moves across or north on the northern seaboard. the other storm system, now watch as these two merge together. again, once they merge, it's all about the positioning, not only of the low itself but where the freezing line is all these factors will determine how much snow we will have in each area. let's talk about what we're expecting. a blizzard warning, we know that, out towards boston, rhode island and connecticut. it's not the only story. we're talking about winter storm warnings and weather advisories. want to talk about the focus areas. we fknow what we're focused wit.

one to two feet. you guys in new york are on that freezing line. depending on that position, we could see it vary, sleet turning into snow, perhaps all snow. hang in there, get yourself. >> that's a lot of deep purple over a wide, wide area. >> all of new england, yes. >> thank you very much. another developing story this morning, u.s. secrets exposed? iran is claiming it has decoded and now released footage from a downed u.s. drone. a man identified as a member of iran's military narrated the footage as it was broadcast on iranian state media. he claims it was a drone iran downed in 2011. cnn cannot independently verify the authenticity of this video. we reached out to the pentagon for comment but have not heard back yet. nick robertson is following

developments in london. is this the same drone that the united states said was returned to the united states? >> it looks like the same one. the iranians say it was flying 140 miles into their airspace off their northeastern corner, close to the border with afghanistan. the iranians are saying this aircraft was flying from the kandahar airfield base inside afghanistan, and some of the footage, and i looked at it, some of it could be kandahar air base but there's no guarantee this video came from the aircraft in question here. did they get this video from somewhere els? it's not clear. there's no way to verify at the moment what the iranians are saying. the spokesman that the iranians are putting forward says that the aircraft was sent to california several times in 2010 for repair and used for operations inside pakistan. >> translator: this aircraft has had many flights in countries around iran, operations that

have taken place in pakistan. this aircraft provided guidance. >> again, no indications that we have that they have the real video from this drone. they may do, but we can't know that for sure at the moment. >> potentially this could be a fake. we have not substantiated any of these claims. but if it is not a fake what does it say about the strength and sophistication of the iranian intelligence system. >> if you were a spy agency from another country and you wanted to get inside a u.s. military base and got footage of it, that would be a coup. if the iranians got some footage from inside kandahar airfield base showing things that the united states and allies rather the iranians not see, that would be a coup. we have to be clear here. what the iranians say they have done is decoded the video on board the aircraft. that's entirely different from watching a live stream of video

as drone operators do, as combat troops in the field can do. these are two vastly different things. it may show the iranians have some advantage here, but certainly doesn't show they hacked into the all-important being able to watch downstream live video as it happens. >> that's really the unanswered question. nic robertson. new developments this morning about a secret u.s. memo authorizing the killing of americans overseas. president obama will release classified documents outlining the legal justification for drone strikes that kill u.s. terror suspects abroad. until yesterday the white house refused to acknowledge these documents existed. and news of the disclosure coming just as john brennan, the president's nominee to be cia director is set for his senate confirmation hearing. brennan was the architect of the drone policy.

as barbara starr tells us, it's just one of the obstacles he faces. >> mr. john brennan. >> reporter: when president obama's pick for cia director heads to capitol hill today for his confirmation hearing, it's some in the president's own party that are threatening to hold up john brennan's nomination. oregon democrat senate other ron wyden telling reporters he would pull out all the stops to get answers about the legality of targeting americans involved with al qaeda overseas. in written answers to committee questions, brennan didn't address killing americans, but insisted all targeting is made on a case by case basis. >> senator wyden was trying to find out that basic information. and has been denied that. so you know, the most basic questions about a program that john brennan has been the architect of and the orchestrator of for four years, the most basic details of it

have been withheld. >> reporter: it's just one controversy brennan faces at his confirmation hearing. there's his role in administration leaks about covert operations, like the cyberattack on iran's nuclear program, and the use of a mole to infiltrate al qaeda in yemen. senators want to know his knowledge of harsh interrogat n interrogations when he was at the cia during the george w. bush years. brennan said he was aware of the program but wasn't involved in it he promised these techniques would not be used again by the cia if i were the director. >> well, he says he had opposed "enhanced interrogations or torture" but there are statements that clearly he made several years ago where he supported it. i'd like to see those -- that issue resolved. >> reporter: outrage over the interrogation program scuttled brennan's chances to lead the cia in obama's first term.

but now he says he's ready for the political heat. >> though i consider myself neither a republican or democrat, i very much look forward to working closely with those on both sides of the aisle. >> reporter: as president obama's top counterterroism adviser, brennan continues to be seen as all powerful. >> i think for sure john is regarded in terms of the intelligence community, even where he is now, as a first among equals. >> reporter: if he's confirmed as director of the cia, john brennan will have a new boss. he will report to james clapper, the director of national intelligence. if there's covert action, some of the cia's most esecret activities, brennan will still have the authority to walk right into the oval office. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. defense secretary leon panetta gets fired up in his final days on the job, warning we are on the brink of the most serious readiness crisis faced by the armed services in more than a decade unless congress

takes action to stop across the board military budget cuts from taking effect on march 1st. >> this is not a game. this is reality. these steps would seriously damage a fragile american economy and they would degrade our ability to respond to crisis precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe. >> passion from the outgoing defense secretary. even as budget cuts loom, the u.s. air force renewed its nascar partnership with richard petty motorsports. nascar says the air force will be the primary sponsor for two races and an associate sponsor all season. president obama is expected to open up on faith this morning as religious and community leaders gather for the 61st national prayer breakfast. it will be the president's first

remarks to the faith community since he announced his support for same-sex marriage. the fellowship foundation has historically held evangelical views. a shocking discovery, a teenager chained to a pipe in his basement. kansas city police responsing to a chip from the missouri children's hotline found a 17-year-old boy locked up, appearing frail and hungry. the special needs teen told police he had been locked down there by his parents since september. according to a neighbor, the mother had been telling people that the boy had been out of town. after witnessing prior abuse, neighbors expected something was wrong. >> there were a couple times i came over here after school and he was sleeping on her front porch because they wouldn't let him in the house. it was sad. we cried a lot yesterday.

>> three adults are in custody. the boy is in the care of the state now. the boy scouts organization says it needs more time on whether to lift its ban on day troop and scout leaders. they were expected to vote on that proposal yesterday to allow local scout groups to make their own policies, but a decision was put off until the annual meeting in may. the scouts said it was due to the complexity of the issue. >> that will only ramp up the controversy surrounding the issue. a baseball card described as rarer than rare sold for $92,000 at action. the 1865 photograph of the brooklyn atlantics is considers one of the first ever baseball cards. the atlantics were a founding team in the national association of baseball players, a forerunner of the national league. the seller found the card at a yard sale in maine. the only other copy -- >> what a find. >> mom, don't throw away the box

of baseball cards. there's only one copy that we know about in the library of congress. baseball cards, the treasure that keeps on giving. >> 1865. that's remarkable. >> old. i have some from the '60s. >> do you really? >> yeah. >> the '60s that doesn't seem old anymore. >> maybe to you. to me -- >> ancient. so he came clean to oprah, but is lance armstrong ready to name names about doping in the cycling world. he was one of president obama's top advisers, now tim geithner seems ready to tell all. developed by experts in skin genomics to target 5 major causes of uneven skin tone and help restore even color. olay professional even skin tone.

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dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers. campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. welcome back to "early start." i'm going to dance. sing a little this morning. he confessed to doping during his incredible tour de france run. now lance armstrong could name names.

the new yo"new york times" repo that armstrong is in talksanti- talk about who helped him dope and cover it up. this report came out after the anti-doping agency gave him more time to talk. >> this is a big deal. it's the thing that everyone says he needs to do if he wants to get his suspension reduce so he can run whatever races he wants to run in the future. it's a big development. 16 minutes after the hour. i want to bring you up to speed on all the morning's top stories. christine romans is here for that. a dangerous winter storm is targeting the northeast. >> it's the big one. >> it is. parts of new england already under a blizzard watch this morning. two feet of snow, maybe more could fall in parts of massachusetts and rhode island beginning tomorrow. get ready. the fda sends out a warning about a new fake version of the cancer-fighting drug avastin. it says at least one batch sent by a new york-based distributor

contained no active ingredient. the counterfeit version is marked as altisan which is not approved in the u.s. the injectable drug treats colorect colorectal, lung and break cancers. timothy geithner has revealed that he will write a book about the bailouts. he took heat about the bank bailouts and how it was free money for the banks. he was head of the new york fed at the time. supporters credited him with preventing a global economic collapse. we are told he is shopping still for the publisher. bridget jones is back. it's been 14 years since the last novel. the first two books sold 15 million copies. both, of course, were made into

feature films were berman has memorized. >> i was made to see the movie once. it's not for guys. >> really? >> really. >> i think you could bond really well during the movie. i say it's a must for guys. thank you, christine. >> you're welcome. it's time for your local reads or early reads, your local news making national headlines this from idaho's spokesman review. state chairman john getty introduced legislation that would make every high schooler read and pass a test on a ayn rand's atlas shrugged before graduating. when a fellow senator asked him why he chose that specific book, getty replied that book made my son a republican. he reportedly doesn't plan to push the bill to a hearing. getty said he wanted to send a message that he's unhappy with

some of the dastate board's rect decisions. >> paul ryan loved it. it was a big part of the election last year. it's not a bad book. it's a good book. one of the most popular male models in the world is giving up fame and the potential for a considerable fortune to play college football. miles crosby has signed a letter of intent to play football for southern methodist university next year. >> come over to your tv. >> he's okay looking. >> really? >> at 17 -- he's 17. brace yourself. >> i know. >> he's appeared in a number of calvin klein ads, appeared in esquire, gq and "vanity fair." i guess he's the 11th ranked male model in the world. i wonder how those rankings work. if you lose, do your rankings go down? he said he has a passion for football and a desire to study film with the hope of becoming a director. >> so he's smart and beautiful. way to go, mom. >> and plays football.

for an expanded look at our top stories, head to our blog, cnn.com/early start. you can follow us on twitter and facebook. some serious questions about cybersecurity this morning at the federal reserve. coming up, the data that hackers may now have access to.ous unda. it's a primer, concealer and foundation in one for all day flawless skin. new outlast stay fabulous from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl.

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are minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are slightly up this morning ahead of the european central bank meeting today. first time jobless claims are being watched and consume irconfidencircon if consumer confidence. >> christine romans is here with more. >> the dow is within 200 points of an all-time high. so the question is should we be getting into stocks or is this the perfect time to get out? last year you had people taking money out of the stock market, at a time when the stock market kept rising. now individual investors are rushing in. they put $17 billion into stocks in 2013. now they're convinced. why are they convinced? because earnings -- they're convinced because for four years the stock market has been going up, now regular people think

this is not bad. these are the four stages of a bull market. at first there are some reservations. then you see that some point by the third stage, it's acceptance. finally, you know, you get a bit exuberant. by the way, corporate insiders are not rushing into the market. they are rushing out of the market to the tune of 9-1. corporate insiders are nine tiles more likely to be selling shares in their company than buying. that's a huge signal. what's a big buy signal? the fed continues to pump money into the system. $85 billion a month. that's a good tailwind for the overall economy and for the stock market. speaking of the fed, it was hacked. the federal reserve telling us that hackers got in there and were able to access their systems. they say no data was breached overall. there is the federal reserve there. but the group anonymous has taken responsibility.

apparently it was a system that the fed uses to talk to banks when there is a crisis, that was breached. the incident did not affect critical operations of the federal reserve system. >> that's scary. >> it is. they noticed it was from an outside vendor, that's how they got in. as soon as they noticed it, they shut down this hack. every company, every bank, everybody who moves money and makes money is concerned. >> so sophisticated with it. >> they have. they have. >> thank you. 26 minutes past the hour. oscar winner steven spielberg is under fire this morning. he's accused of fudging key facts in his blockbuster movie "lincoln." why one lawmaker is demanding changes. and he wants that to happen before the movie comes out on dvd. at 1:45, the aflac duck was brought in

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will it be the blizzard of 2013? big, important cities like boston, the most important city of them all, right in the path of a major winter storm. >> actually quite serious. that's a lot of snow being dumped there. >> taking off in a matter of hours, boeing's troubled dreamliner jumbo jet. don't expect to see passengers on board. this is just another hack who wants fooef minutes on tsiv. >> chris christie unloads only the former white house doctor that says the governor is so heavy he could die in office. that controversy getting louder and louder and louder. welcome back to "early start". >> it's 31 minutes past the hour. we begin with a potentially epic

winter storm that could dump more than two feet of snow on parts of new england starting tomorrow. so right now there's a blizzard watch in effect for sections of rhode island and massachusetts, and plenty of freezing rain and damaging winds forecast for the rest of the northeast as well. boy, this sounds terrible. let's go right to the cnn weather center in atlanta. how big will this one be? >> potentially one to two feet. some models bringing it higher than that. a lot of snow is headed to new england, but i want to point out why. look at the showers building in the south currently. we'll watch a low form and make its way up to the carolinas. with that we will see heavy showers into the southeast. then it will become a rain and wind event as it makes its way up to the carolinas. then we will watch as two systems merge. when that happens, we will form this large nor'easterment i keep pointing out it will depend on

the positioning of this low. closer to the coastline, we will get more moisture. then the positioning of the freezing line, depending how low the cold air goes, we will be talking air further south towards west virginia. we have blizzard watches in effect from friday afternoon through saturday afternoon. boston, rhode island, connecticut. this is a large area impacted by the storm. much of new england seeing these winter storm watches. even a way that kicks through michigan could bring heavier totals for them. talking about the numbers here, as this develops we will see flurries in the morning in new england. by friday evening we will see the heavy stuff accumulate. notice the totals again, one to two feet is possible for new england. some models bringing it higher. right there in new york, you guys are on that freezing line. little tricky. you could start off as sleet and then turn into snow. some models bring you with snow the entire time, so there you will see the higher accumulations. i hope you are ready.

>> we are prepared. we said shovels, though i think we need trucks or something. snow blowers. thank you, idra peterson. >> 30 inches in boston. that is a lot of snow. the grounded dreamliner 787 will fly again today for one time only. "usa today" says the faa okayed a one-time ferry flight from ft. worth, texas, to the factory in washington to complete production on one of the jumbo jets. the "wall street journal" says boeing is proposing a series of battery design changes. big outrage this morning over cutting the postal service's saturday delivery for first class letters. postal unions and some lawmakers criticize the change, but usps says this is necessary for the agency to stop hemorrhages more cash. some postal customers are unhappy with this move. >> not cool.

i want mail on saturday. why not? >> frankly, it doesn't bother me. i'm retired. i'm not worried about getting my checks or anything. if i get them saturday or morning. >> the service changes take effect in august and are expected to save the postal service $2 billion a year. packages, however, will still be delivered. >> i don't know -- no one writes me letters anymore. >> really? >> it's sad. >> you have less time to pay your bills. if you get your bills in the mail still, you'll have less time when when you get your bill -- you have to budget another two days to pay your bills. >> do things electronically. >> it is a big change. people will notice a difference. we have a disturbing story, just an awful story to tell you about. an indiana couple outraged when they saw how their 8-year-old daughter who has downs syndrome, was sent home from school on monday. >> i'm like, come on. she just stood there, limping a bit. i'm like what's wrong?

she said my feet hurt. >> her feet hurt because they were duct taped along with her ankles. the tape was so tight she needed to be rolled on to the school bus in a wheelchair. a spokeswoman for the indianapolis school said the incident is appalling and the procedure is not condoned by their restraint policy. the school is offeri ining ongo training for staff and putting a number of employees on administrative leave. her parents hope it will lead to improvements of how students are treated in the future. >> my goodness. is that one of the worst things i've ever seen. a just-released study warns that alzheimer's is a looming u.s. epidemic. the number of older people living with the disease will almost triple by 2050. affecting 13.8 million people. marco rubio has been selected to deliver the

republican response to the president's state of the union address next week. he will present it live in english while a prerecorded version will air in spanish. a former white house physician finds herself in a very public feud this morning with a very furious chris christie. the new jersey governor offering up some choice words to describe what he thinks of dr. connie mariano, after she went on television and voiced concern that christie's weight might cause him to die in office. christine romans has the blow by blow. >> is she backing down? no, she's not. the dispute between the governor and a woman who cared for three sitting presidents, began after christie went on t"the david letterman show" and munched on a

doughn doughnut. the arizona physician says she likes christie, she would like to see him run for president, but her public remarks about the possibility of the governor dying in office sparked this angry tirade from christie. >> she must be a genius. she should probably be the surgeon general of the united states, i suspect, because she must be a genius. i think this is -- listen this is another hack who wants five minutes on tv. and it's completely irresponsible. completely irresponsible. my children saw that last night. if she wants to get on a plane and come here to new jersey and ask if she wants to examine me and review my medical history, i'll have a conversation with her about that. until that, she should shut up. >> christie says his 12-year-old son saw the comments on tv and asked him if he would die. so he called mariano personally to vent. listen to her reaction to the

governor's name calling. >> it was rather shocking to hear those things. i was in clinic so i did not hear his broadcast. he used some strong words there. out of deference to him, i will not comment on that. i can only share with you that that phone conversation, when i think of it, the word gracious and appreciative do not come to mind. >> dr. mariano says she does not regret making the comments about the governor and that she would like to see him get some help for his weight problem. again, she has treated three sitting presidents, and she said her concern was someone of that weight could die in office. dr. mariano, when they see a patient like chris christie come into office, they say your biggest concern is to get the weight down. this could really effect your life. he was furious. >> he clearly has a flair for nuance and subtlety that the new jersey governor doesn't enjoy. she's a public figure.

she's served as the white house physician, and she was weighing in on a public issue. >> she says it's evident to the naked eye. you don't need to have a medical degree to see there is a problem. >> it started with this week on letterman joking about his weight. it ended in really insults to someone who criticized him about his weight. i don't know what the plan is in the christie quarters about putting -- the more we're talking about chris christie's weight, it has to be politically -- this storyas turned about being funny about his weight to serious. >> he did say he's working on it. he did say we should see some changes if he's successful. richard simmons weighs in on the feud between the governor and the good doctor. chasm that in the 8:00 a.m. hour of "starting point." it's an oscar-nominated blockbuster success, but plenty of questions about the accuracy of steven spielberg's "lincoln." why one lawmaker wants the

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. welcome back to "early start." it's one of the year's most celebrated films. steven spielberg's "lincoln" is nominated for 12 academy awards, but it turns out "lincoln" contains a historical editor. it has a connecticut congressman determined to set the record straight. >> congressman joe courtny finally got to see the movie "lincoln" in recent days. he was riveted about the debate in the house of representatives over the 13th amendment outlawing slavery. >> congress must never declare

equal those that god declared unequal. >> reporter: later, the actual vote. we're not allowed to show you the clip but here's what the character said. the clerk of the house, we begin with connecticut, mr. augustus benjamin on the matter of this, how say you? nay. mr. bentley, nay. so two congressmen from connecticut voted against abolishing slavery? >> something's wrong here. this cannot be correct. >> reporter: courtney was bugged about it all the way home. when he got home, he googled the information. thought he was on to something. then he got with the congressional research service, asked them to check the hiss co historical records. they dshid, and he was right. courtney directed a letter to steven spielberg saying i could

not believe my eyes and ears. that's a source of information that people may not get any other source in terms of the history of the civil war or the 13th amendment. >> reporter: the names of the connecticut congressmen were made up, like most in the movie, but we found no other voting inaccuracies in the film. i spoke about it with christian mcwhirter. >> movies typically have historical errors in them, and "lincoln" is a good historical film. >> reporter: the movie is not a documentary. doesn't claim to be one. it's historical fiction and doesn't have to be 100% accurate. but congressman courtney asked that that part movement i have be corrected before it's released on dvd later this month. cnn reached out to representatives for steven spielberg, the screen writer and the distributor, disney, asking for response to courtney's complaints and asking if the dvd version will have a correction.

we have not heard back. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> that's why they always say don't mess with connecticut. >> that's an important piece of history. getting that right would be good. >> that is a strange one to get wrong. 46 minutes past the hour. are we alone? does another planet exist out there? how about 4.5 billion of them? astronomers say our milky way galaxy may be full of billions of earth-like planets. that's according to harvard smithsonian center for astro physics. the co-author of the report says this would make it much easier to discover life beyond our solar system. facebook is coming clean. what they're about to start telling you about the ads on your profile page. and the geeky godaddy star locking lips on tv again? this time it's no supermodel. wait until you see this. what's...that... on your head?

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welcome back. it's 50 minutes past the hour. time to get you up to date. here is christine romans. >> the northeast about to get socked by a potentially blizzard. massachusetts and rhode island could see two feet of snow. freezing rain and damaging winds are forecast for several other northeast states. i will be getting my generator out post-hurricane sandy once more. nba commissioner david stern says the league hopes to follow major league baseball and the nfl and begin blood testing for human growth hormone for next season. they ha they. facebook will start telling you when ads on your page are specifically targeted for you. the social network is under pressure to beef up security and they figure telling you will get points with consumers.

i don't know. i don't know telling me, hey, we're targeting you. >> we're on to you. this is how we know all this stuff. >> thank you. it's a look at one of the deadliest days of america's longest war through the eyes of one of the men right in the middle of it. a warrior who ignored his own wounds to rescue others. this is part of a new special called "an american hero" from cnn's chief washington correspondent jake tapper. here is a sneak peek. >> throughout all of this did you ever think this is it? i'm not going to get out of here? >> it's like a fighter going into the boxing ring. if you think you're going to lose before you even step in the ring, you have already lost. you're there to win. you're there to fight. you're there to, you know --

your brothers to your left and right are depending on you. you don't have that on you. >> this is based on the book "the outpost." don't miss the documentary "an american hero" airing tonight at 10:00 p.m. jake tapper will be here with a preview of this show later on "starting point." >> that's cool. coming up, mad hoop skills. this little guy is only two years old. >> what? >> i cheated this morning, i sent this out this morning on facebook and twitter. it's remarkable. a toddler showing off trick shots and taking over the net. this is viral video you do not want to miss. >> he's got game. oh!

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56 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start." we are taking a look at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. we have a parenting lesson for everyone out there. bribery works. a father from massachusetts named paul bare paid his 14-year-old daughter 200 bucks to quit facebook. it says the teenager has to stay facebook free for five months. dad gets her password so she can't reactivate her account. >> that's a steal. 200 bucks. for those of you hoping justin bieber would go away in 2013, it won't happen. biebs just made more music history, becoming the youngest artist to land five chart-topping albums in the united states. with his latest record debuting on top of the billboard 200

chart. the album also topped itunes downloads charts in 63 countries. >> it will last forever. >> forever. down the stairs, off the wall, wearing a onsie and nothing but net. that guy is a toddler showing off his amazing basketball trick shots. by all accounts this video is legit, even down the stairs, really? 2-year-old titus, that guy can play. the guy who posted this on youtube said he began shooting baskets shortly after learning to you to walk. we filmed some and got carried away. this video has had 2 million hits on youtube since sunday. this kid probably left chuck e cheese with enough tickets to buy a ferrari. shaq neverif t free-throws in his career. >> watch the whole video. he gets so excited when he makes

the basket. >> can't dunk, by the way. >> he will. >> he has to work on his inside game. just saying. late-night laughs now. that dude with the chubby red cheeks from the godaddy super bowl ad getting more on-camera action, but no supermodel this time. take a look. >> i'm thinking, any chance we could recreate the ad? >> sure. pucker up. >> oh. >> breath mints. >> "early start" continues right now. bracing for the big one. two winter storms about to merge into a monster blizzard for much of the northeast. and it could bury some areas in

two feet of snow, even more. american spy secrets exposed. iran claims it's hacked into a captured u.s. drone. we'll have a live report. too sexy for tv? the grammy awards cracking down with a new dress code. but will big stars like lady gaga pay any attention? >> fat chance. >> good morning. welcome to "early start". >> i'm jon bermhn berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. let's get started here. we track winter storm. a blizzard watch is in effect right now for parts of new england. a winter storm is on the way and it could be historic, folks, because it is expected to drop more than two feet of snow in some places. this is beginning tomorrow. let's get right to inc. ar peterson. >> back february 17th and 18th of 2003 boston did have a blizzard with 27 inches of snow.

this could rival that storm. what we're watching is a low starting to form in the southeast. as it makes its way up through the carolinas, it will be a rain and wind event. notice there's a second storm there. we'll watch these two merge and form this large nor'easter that we're all monitoring, of course. we'll be watching the positioning of the low, if it's closer to the coastline we'll see more moisture and more snow amounts. the other thing we'll be watching is where that freezing line goes. if that cold air moves farther to the south, we'll see snow even farther south and potentially more snow in towards new york. it's not just affecting one area. we have the blizzard watches in effect for friday afternoon through saturday afternoon, but notice all of new england and the winter storm watch. even as that second system starts to make its way across, we'll talk about heavier snow amounts in through michigan. so all of this is something we'll be monitoring. we'll talk about some of the amounts expected. notice 8 to 10 inches possible in michigan. out towards new england, 12 to 24 inches. yes, 1 to 2 feet of snow.

some models bringing it higher, some lower. then i take you through new york and we're talking about that freezing line. all of this makes a huge difference. you could start off as sleet and transition to snow if it gets colder or if the freezing line is lower you'll see snow right from the beginning. travel will be a big concern out there. these are the delays that we're expecting today. some rain and snow in chicago. if you have travel plans tomorrow definitely monitor the situation, especially friday night through saturday. you guys, you aren't going to be alone, i'm going to be in boston as well. >> you're not going to be able to walk around. >> these weather delays you're looking at now, these are like nothing compared to what they'll be tomorrow and saturday. we have another developing story this morning. u.s. secrets exposed. iran claims it has decoded and now released footage from a downed u.s. drone. a man identified as a member of iran's military narrated the plaque and white aerial footage

as it was broadcast on iranian state media. he claims it is a drone iran downed in 2011. cnn cannot independently verify of authenticity of the video. we've reached out to the pentagon for comment but have not heard back yet. >> reporter: good morning. the iranian government is already poboasting about what appears to be this decoded video from this drone portraying this as a major intelligence victory over washington. we don't know exactly what they have gotten from this drone when it comes to technology, but it does look like they have decoded video from the drone's camera. they aired it on state media. that video was posted on youtube. in it we see what appears to be black and white video, aerial surveillance video. the video is accompanied by a narrator identified as a general from iran's revolution guard.

the narrator describes what we appear to be seeing. he says the drone is landing at the kandahar air base which is in southern afghanistan in one portion of the video the narrator says this. this air craft has had many flights in countries around iran in operations that have taken place in pakistan. this aircraft has provided guidance. again, cnn cannot independently verify the authenticity of this video, we're still waiting on comments by the pentagon, john, but it looks to be genuine. we stress it looks to be genuine. we look forward to see what the pentagon has to say. john. >> as you pointed out again and again, the u.s. has not commented to us about the authenticity of the videos. they could be fake. but if they are real, what does it say about the sophistication of the iranian intelligence system? >> reporter: it's too early to make that kind of assessment, john, because it's too early to figure out exactly what iranian officials have extracted from this drone.

this is obviously a high-tech machine, stealth technology. you can be sure iran is trying to clone it, but we don't know if they have done that yet. it looks like they have managed to decode the video. one thing you can be sure they'll do is they'll use this in the information war against the u.s. they will bolster their position that the u.s. is a bully in the region, meddling in sovereign affairs of other countries with drones and it's going to be part of the information war that these two countries have been locked in for a long time, john. >> thanks, reza. >> there's going to be a lot of talk about this here locally as well. congressional lawmakers will get access to classified documents concerning the targeted killings of americans overseas. president obama will release documents to two committees outlining the legal justification for drone strikes that kill u.s. terror suspects abroad. the administration's drone program has been shrouded in secrecy and criticized by many

members of congress. the white house says more than two dozen senior al qaeda members have been killed in drone strikes, including one american citizen. meantime the president's nominee for cia director, john brennan, has his confirmation hearing today, the drone issue almost certain to come up because brennan was one of the architect's of the drone policy. as cnn's barbara starr tells us, he's about to feel the heat from senators on both sides of the aisle. >> and mr. john brennan. >> reporter: when president obama's pick for cia director heads to capitol hill today for his confirmation hearing, there's some in the president's own party that are threatening to hold up john brennan's nomination. oregon democrat senator ron widen telling that he would pull out all the stops to get answers about the legality of targeting americans involved with al qaeda overseas. in written answers to committee questions, brennan didn't address killing americans, but insisted all targeting is made

on a case-by-case basis. >> senator widen is trying to figure out basic information and has been denied that. so the most basic questions about a program that john brennan has been the architect of and the orchestrater of for four years, the most basic details of it have been withheld. >> reporter: it's just one controversy brennan faces at his confirmation hearing. there's his role in administration leaks about covert operations, like the cyber attack on iran's nuclear program and the use of a mole to infiltrate al qaeda in yemen. senators want to know his knowledge of harsh interrogations when he was at the cia during the george w. bush years. brennan said he was aware of the program, but wasn't involved in it. he promised these techniques would not be used again by the cia if i were the director. >> well, he says that he had opposed, quote, enhanced

interrogations or torture, but there are statements that clearly he made several years ago where he supported it. i'd like to see those -- that issue resolved. >> reporter: outrage over the interrogation program scuttled brennan's chances to lead the cia in obama's first term, but now he says he's ready for the political heat. >> although i consider myself neither a republican nor a democrat, i very much look forward to working closely with those on both sides of the aisle. >> reporter: as president obama's top counterterrorism adviser, brennan continues to be seen as all powerful. >> i think for sure john is regarded in terms of the intelligence community even where he is now as a first among equals. >> reporter: if he's confirmed as director of the cia, john brennan will have a new boss. he'll now report to james clapper, the director of national intelligence. but if there's covert action, some of the cia's most secret activities, then brennan will

still have the authorit to walk right into the oval office. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> our thanks to barbara. eight minutes past the hour. defense secretary leon panetta gets fired up in his final days on the job, warning that we are on the brink of the most serious readiness crisis faced by the armed services in more than a decade, unless congress takes action to stop across the board military budget cuts from taking effect on march 1st. >> this is not a game. this is reality. these steps would seriously damage a fragile american economy and they would degrade our ability to respond to crisis precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe. >> even as budget cuts loom, the u.s. air force just renewed its nascar partnership with richard petty motor sports number 43

car. nascar says the air force will be the primary sponsor for two races and an associate sponsor all season long. president obama is expected to open up on his faith this morning as religious and community leaders gather for the 61st annual national prayer breakfast. that's in a few hours from now. it will be the president's first remarks to the faith community since he announced his support for same-sex marriage. the fellowship foundation which organizes this event has historically held conservative eadvantage gel cal views and they are linked to legislation in uganda that would link being gay a crime that is punishable by death. some disappointment for gay rights supporters. the boy scout's executive board tabled yesterday's vote on allowing gays in its ranks until their national meeting in may. it was due to the complexity of this issue. later this hour we'll talk to

jennifer tyrell who was dismissed as a den leader because she's gay. so the fashion police will be out in force for sunday night's grammy awards. we're not talking about melissa and joan rivers. no. over the years we've seen some of the revealing, if not shocking looks at the grammys, but this year, stars are being told to cover up. that's because cbs has issued this rather incredible wardrobe advisory that includes, be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered. i'm reading this here. thong-type costumes are problematic. boy, are they ever. avoiding exposing bear flesh under curves of the buttocks. bare sides or under curvature of the breasts is also problematic. avoid sheer see-through clothing. i'm not going to read all this. and the stars should cover their genitals. wow. all i can say is, you can read it here, these rules are crazy.

>> this is incredible. can we send them out, everything you refused to read this morning? >> do you think these people willow bay these rules? >> no, i do not. i think certain stars, this is a moment they live for and they're not going to obey those rules. what's going to happen to them? they'll do it. so don't cross new jersey's chris christie. check this out. >> it's completely irresponsible. completely irresponsible. he should shut up. >> see the governor go off on the doctor that publicly criticized his weight. that's coming up. ♪ get ready for a lot more of that new-plane smell. we're building the youngest, most modern fleet among the largest us airlines

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so welcome back for "early start," everyone. would you look at what one doughnut started. chris christie is hammering -- >> it wasn't one doughnut. >> it was a very important doughnut. >> chris christie is hammering a doctor for saying on tv she's concerned that he will die in office because of his weight. the war of words between christie and a woman who has taken care of three sitting presidents began this week after he went on the letterman show. he called himself the healthiest fat guy you've ever seen. >> she must be a genius. she should probably be the surgeon general of the united states, i suspect, because she must be a genius. i think this is -- listen, this is just another hack who wants five minutes on tv.

and it's -- and it's completely irresponsible, completely irresponsible. my children saw that last night. if she wants to get on a plane and come here to new jersey and ask me if she wants to examine me and review my medical history, i'll have a conversation with her about that. until that time she should shut up. >> christie later called the doctor. listen to what she said to describe that conversation to cnn's anderson cooper along with her reaction to the governor's rant. >> well, it was rather shocking to hear those things. i was in clinic so i did not hear his broadcast, but he used some pretty strong words there. out of deference to him, i'm not going to comment on that, but i can only share with you that that phone conversation when i think of it, the words gracious and appreciative do not come to mind. >> dr. mariano says she wants to see christie run for president. she says she does not regret making the comments she made. >> and she did offer up for him to go out to arizona to see her. >> i don't think they'll be

getting together. >> i don't think so either. it would be fun to watch them together. richard simmons weighs in on this feud between the governor and the doctor. catch soledad o'brien's interview on the 8:00 a.m. hour of "starting point" this very morning. >> you know, he is so outspoken, a straight talker. she sounds like a straight talker. she gave straight talk about what she thought it was and he did not like her straight talk. >> he thinks he's the only one allowed to be sglublunt. >> it's touching a nerve. christine romans with our top stories. a dangerous winter storm targeting the northeast this morning and it could be epic. parts of new england are already under a blizzard watch. two feet of snow or more could fall in parts of massachusetts and rhode island. that begins tomorrow. and much of the northeast will be facing freezing rain and damaging winds. a connecticut lawmaker who represents the newtown district is calling for a sin tax on violent video games. state representative debra lee

hovey, a republican whose district includes sandy hook is proposing a bill that calls for a 10% tax on games rated mature with the proceeds funding mental health education about the dangers of violent entertainment. are you old enough to vine? twitter's video watching and sharing application has been slapped with a 17 plus rating after several porn clips were uploaded. one of them accidentally ended up on the editor's picks page. that was quickly taken down. the year-old app was originally targeted to tweens 12 and up. check out these cool pictures from nasa taken from the space station. you're looking at the caribbean sea near the northwest coast of trinidad. do you see those ripples? those are underwater waves or internal waves, as they call them. they're moving slowly hundreds of feet, hundreds of feet beneath the surface. they produce enough of the effect to be seen from space but only when the sunlight is reflected just right, like here.

very rare. >> beautiful. >> hundreds of feet below the surface from the space station. awesome. >> very well. >> thank you, christine. >> you're welcome. two big airlines may soon become one. details on the merger talks and what it could mean for you, coming up. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thankyou card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? and with all the points i've been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot even on a holiday weekend.

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welcome back, everyone. we are minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are slightly up this morning, ahead of the european central bank meeting

later today. investors also watching for reports on first-time jobless claims and consumer credit. those reports are out later today. >> christine romans is here with a look at some potential big news in the airline industry. >> yeah, this is the top story this morning in terms of the corporate world. american airlines, amr, that company is in bankruptcy and u.s. airways could be on the verge of merging. if they did, it would be the largest airline in the world. it comes after, you know, five or six years of pretty big mergers, united/continental is the largest. delta/northwest merged in 2008. what's going on here? there's a board meeting for amr on monday. "wall street journal" is reporting they are racing to get details of a deal done. we know deals before with american haven't really been embraced altogether by the board because some people wanted to come out of bankruptcy as a stand-alone company and then maybe do a merger after that. so you have a couple of things here. you've got these industry pressures to merge to get bigger and also american is in the bankruptcy process and coming out of it.

so this would be an all stock deal, according to the journal, that would be executed as part of the reorganization, taking american out of chapter 11 protecti protection. again, the journal saying that they're working real fast to try to get this done. let me tell you about the other big air story of the day and that is boeing. following developments in boeing this morning, we now know that the government has allowed -- will allow one faierry flight oa dreamliner from ft. worth to seattle. they have to check all the batteries, all the cables, have only the crew on board and this is to take a new plane for delivery for boeing. we also know the "wall street journal" is saying boeing is trying a series of battery redesigns to get around this problem that has grounded 50 droem liner airlines. remember, these are supposed to be the state-of-the-art, future, highly complex electrical systems, very lightweight, long haul. it's a dreamliner and it's been a nightmare liner.

now one of these will be allowed to flight today. if you look on flight aware, you might be actually able to see it. people will be tracking it to see where that one is going. >> what's the one thing we need to know about our money? >> in stocks today as you're jumping into the market, corporate insiders are jumping out of the market. corporate insiders are nine times more likely to be selling their company stock right now than buying it. this as individual investors as you can see there are rushing into stocks. the first part of the year, individual investors plowed $17 billion into stocks after pulling money out last year. corporate insiders right now are selling, which is not really a surprise, think if you're an insider in the company and you see this big runup in stocks doubling since 2009, you might be saying new year, i'm taking some off the table. >> thank you. >> good advice. 26 minutes after the hour right now. remember the mail carriers unofficial creed. neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night? apparently they didn't consider saturday. how americans are reacting to

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will it be the blizzard of '13? big cities like boston and much more of the northeast right in the path of a major winter storm. cyber attack on america's bank? hackers breach the federal reserve. and commercial warfare. a latino group fires off its own ad after blasting a super bowl

spot for dodge ram trucks. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. it is thursday morning, 30 minutes after the hour right now and we are going to start with the massive storm brewing. millions of people in the northeast are bracing for what could be an historic blizzard. this system could dump more than two feet of snow on parts of new england starting tomorrow. right now there's a blizzard watch in effect for sections of rhode island and massachusetts and there is plenty of freezing rain and damaging winds forecast for the rest of the region. this looks like a serious one, so let's get right top indra petersons who is monitoring the storm system for us from atlanta. >> we'll be watching how this storm forms. it's going to start forming out of this low that's starting to produce some heavy showers in the south. it will form a low and be a heavy rain and wind maker as it heads up toward the carolinas. notice two storms coming together. there's the two storms that will start to merge and form.

we have a lot of models and they're all producing different amounts of snow and rain. the reason for this, if the model brings it closer to the coastline we see heavier amounts of moisture and snow. you bring it farther off the coastline and you'll see lesser amounts. the other thing the models are picking up is where that snow line or freezing line goes. if it moves farther down to the south, that cold air makes it farther to the south, you'll see heavier snow amounts. meaning you'll start off as snow instead of sleet. we're watching a winter storm watch for a big portion of new england. boston, portions of massachusetts, connecticut and rhode island. then even as that second wave makes its way across we'll talk about heavy snow through michigan so they have a winter storm warning there as well. as far as totals, 1 to 2 feet is the big number we're talking about here in new england. some models bring it higher, some bringing it lower and focusing in through new york we are talking about freezing line. you guys are right on that cutoff so if you get warm air first, you'll start off with sleet, then snow. a lot of cold air means more snow. we'll monitor for you here at a

long time. >> i'm staring at that map trying to figure out exactly where the line hits. >> where your house is? >> a big area of purple, a lot of snow expected. thanks a lot. >> hopefully it won't be deadly and just be fun for everyone, right? 32 minutes past the hour here. now to a shocking discovery. a teenager chained to a pipe in his basement. kansas city police were responding to a tip from the missouri children's hotline and they found a 17-year-old boy locked up, appearing frail and hungry. the special needs teenager told police he had been locked down there by his parents since september. according to a neighbor, the teen's mother had been telling people that the boy was out of town and that it was tough to watch when he was finally rescued by police. >> you could tell he had lost a lot of weight. he looked very grayish kinda, you know, like that pale gray color. they said he was very dehydrated, so -- >> what did you feel seeing

that? >> i was heartbroken honestly. >> how could you not be? three adults are in custody now and that boy is in the care of the state right now. a just-released study warns alzheimer's is a looming u.s. epidemic. the new estimates in the journal of neurology predict the number of older people living with the disease will almost triple, triple by 2050, affecting 13.8 million people, including aging baby boomers. florida senator marco rubio will deliver the gop response to the president's state of the union address. he will do it live in english while a prerecorded version in spanish runs on spanish language networks. the gop ramping up its outreach to hispanic americans after 71% voted for president obama in november. >> this is really interesting, one of the most popular super bowl ads receiving a postgame remix. dodge ram's god made a farmer ad struck a chord with viewers but it was criticized for not showing minorities.

a latino group released its own ad with latino workers featured prominently. it has received 500,000 views online. so far no response from dodge. >> i thout the original ad did have an african-american, so not no minorities. here are some of the top trending stories. officials at the federal reserve confirming they have been hacked. they have been hacked by an outside party. the fed says whoever did it got access to a limited amount of data. the discovery is raising a lot of questions about cyber security at the fed. we're being told the exposure did not impact operations and also that it was quickly fixed. pop star rihanna was in a los angeles courtroom with chris brown on wednesday but this time she wasn't there to testify against him, she was there to support him. the singer sat behind brown while a prosecutor asked a judge to start his community service over. that community service is part of brown's punishment for beating up rihanna the night before the grammys in 2009.

indeed, there she is. what a difference a year makes -- four years makes. >> i think that was at a game because she was holding a beer a little while ago. so reaction is pouring to snail mail being cut on saturdays. the postal service has been hemorrhaging cash and says this will actually help save it. so you will still get packages, but no more first class letters delivered on saturdays, and customers are split on whether this is good or bad. >> not cool. i want mail on saturday. why not? >> frankly it really doesn't bother me. i'm retired and i'm not worried about getting my checks or anything. if i get them saturday or monday. >> the service changes will not happen until august. look at this, it's expected to save $2 billion a year. >> that's a lot of money. supporters of gay rights frustrated this morning after the boy scouts of america put off what would have been a landmark decision. one of those activists joins us live coming up. plus a brand new look at the

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recognize that supermodel right there? that's our very own soledad o'brien walking down the runway, really prancing, at the red dress collection fashion show last night here in new york, looking absolutely stunning. i would call it a cherry red off the shoulder dress. the event promotes heart truth which inspires women to get and stay heart healthy. of course she went right from that runway to the studio right here. >> i was wearing four-inch heels and i was like please don't fall, please don't fall. apparently sometimes people take a tumble. it was for a great cause, so bringing attention to women's heart health. ahead this morning on "starting point" we'll talk about iran claiming that it's hacked a u.s. drone, released footage from the aircraft apparently. this comes as the senate intelligence committee is preparing to receive classified information about the obama administration's policy of targeting americans in drone attacks. we'll take a look at what it all means for the secretive program. plus you may have heard their recording of "somewhere over the rainbow," a group of

students performing in the name of sandy hook, not exactly affiliated with the sandy hook elementary students who were performing the other day at the super bowl, although it's made some of the members of the community kind of upset. we'll explain what's happening there. janet robinson will join us live to talk to us about that. then a man who has spent literally decades trying to get americans in shape, now richard simmons has a new program to help people get healthy. he says he's even got a little advice for governor chris christie. >> a lot of people seem to have advice for governor chris christie these days. >> i'm sure he's like enough with the advice, people. >> we'll talk about that too, thanks, soledad. 41 minutes past the hour. gay rights supporters were hoping for a historic announcement from the boy scouts of america. instead they were told check back later. check back with us later. the boy scouts board was expected to decide whether to lift their national ban on gay members yesterday, but they pushed it back to may during their annual meeting. jennifer tyrell was a cub scout

den leader in ohio until she says the organization dismissed her for being a lesbian. on monday she led a group to drop off a petition at boy scout headquarters claiming 1.4 million signatures, and she is joining us this morning. thank you so much for stopping by, we appreciate it. so they have essentially delayed the decision by three months. were you surprised by that decision? >> not necessarily surprised. >> why? >> it's been a lot of back and forth in the last ten months since i started my change.org petition. we've heard one thing and then they have done another, so not necessarily surprised. a little disappointed because i was hoping that i could go home and give my son some good news, but, you know what, if they need a little more time to make the right decision, then that's what they need to do. >> and what is the right decision? >> the right decision is always equality. >> and so at the end of the day are you hopeful that that still could potentially happen? because there are some folks who really do not want that to

happen. >> it's true. but throughout history there are folks who do not want equality to happen. so i feel very optimistic. the first time they have not said no truthfully. >> that's a good point. >> they have always said no. no, no, no, no, no. and now they brought it up. we didn't bring it up this time. they said we're thinking about it. now we need a little more time. i'm hopeful. i just have to hold on to that belief that they're going to be on the right side of history. if we have to wait till may, then we have to wait till may. >> now, you're claiming 1.5 million signatures on a petition that you dropped off at the headquarters on monday. how did you go about getting those signatures? >> that was actually a cumulative effort, like four petitions on change.org, mine and several folks that were with me. we basically just have been telling our stories. my story and how i was ousted and people sympathize because they think what if i have a gay child or if i do have. you know, it's not right. people know that. people are rising to the

occasion. we've been flooded with support from scouts, from churches, from everywhere. >> i want to actually share some numbers on this because we have a new quinnipiac poll and shows a wide majority of people want to see the boy scouts' ban on gays come to an end. it's a wide margin there, 55%. how do you go about getting more people to care and to become involved? >> well, you know, i've never been involved before this happened. i'm not an advocate -- i mean i am now. but i just tell my story, and i think people can relate to it, because i'm just a mom with a partner and four kids who's just trying to live her life and do the best i can. so i think that other parents especially can relate to what if i couldn't participate in my child's life, how would i feel about that. >> i want to talk about the other side of this, because tony perkins, the head of family research council was on "starting point" yesterday.

soledad mentioned you specifically to him. so let's listen. >> why would i let a man who is attracted to other males go camping with my boys? >> why would someone about like jennifer tyrell -- she is a lesbian and she wants to be a den mother. she'd be a perfect example of contradicting your very point, sir. >> but see, you don't make -- you don't make policies and you don't set standards based upon one situation or another situation. >> so he says that you can't make big decisions based on particular circumstances. how do you feel about that? how would you counter that? >> i think i don't really put any weight into anything he says. you know, the family research council has been deemed a hate group to so many people. >> what about the position that they take. the specific position that he took is that he would not want to send his son on a camping trip with a man who likes men. or prefers men.

>> well, i think that he has a twisted view of things. i think that adults with whichever sexual orientation are not typically attracted to children, so i don't know why his mind keeps going there. so i mean he might just want to get -- he might want to look into that. >> jennifer tyrell, i appreciate your time this morning. thanks for joining us. john, back to you. the big news today, a dangerous winter storm bearing down on the northeast. parts of massachusetts and rhode island already under a blizzard watch this morning. two feet of snow or more could fall on parts of new england, starting tomorrow. freezing rain and damaging winds in the forecast for much of this region. the fda sends out a warning about a new fake version of the cancer-fighting drug avatin. it says at least one batch contained no active ingredient. the counterfeit version is markeded as altazan which is not approved for sale in the u.s.

the only approved version in the u.s. is avastin. and you're looking at one of the oldest surviving photographs of a u.s. president. this picture of john quincy adams was taken in the summer of 1843 in new york, long after he was in office. it turned up in an antique store in the 1970s and was purchased for 50 cents. records show adams thought the photo was hideous. it is now in the care of the smithsonian. >> that's so cool. john quincy adams was a member of the u.s. house of representatives. that photo is super, super cool. ahead, he came clean in dramatic fashion to oprah on national tv, but is lance armstrong now ready to start naming names about doping in the cycling world? c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate.

but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid.

so the price for coming clean could cost lance armstrong some big bucks. a promotions company is filing a lawsuit today to recover $12 million in bonus money. >> joe carter is here with this morning's bleacher report. good morning. >> hi, good morning, guys. more money, more problems for lance armstrong. sca promotions, the sports insurance company that bad lance armstrong $12 million in bonus money during his tour de france title run, they want that money back, plus interest, plus legal fees. so on top of that multimillion dollar lawsuit, armstrong could also be facing federal charges. abc news says that investigators are looking at charging him with obstruction of justice, intimidation and witness tampering. in an effort to clean up the sport of cycling, the anti-doping agency is giving armstrong two more weeks to decide if he wants to speak with

agency investigators under oath. the original deadline to speak with them was yesterday, wednesday. of course armstrong must cooperate with usada to get his life-time ban reconsidered. you never want to be a senior in high school and vp mommy issues. that kind of faced alex collins yesterday. yesterday was national signing day. collins one of the best high school running backs out there was expected to sign with arkansas to play football. just before he co-signed the letter of intent, his mom got up and split midpress conference. you don't want to have mommy issues when you're a senior in high school. of course mom doesn't want her boy to leave home, she wants him to stay close and play in south florida for the university of miami. well, when all is said and done, it looks like alex is going to get his way. mom is expected to sign the papers later today, so her boy can in fact play -- >> you are that mom, aren't you? >> can you imagine that conversation they had? they're not speaking to each other this morning. >> he's mad about a couple of

things. the fact she split and he's not getting his way. guys, if you feel like you need to get some cardio in, these guys might help you feel like you've got what you had. it's the 36th run to the top of the empire state building. mark born from australia ran from the lobby to the observatory deck, that's 86 floors, in 10 minutes and 12 seconds. susie walshman, she won for the women. she raced up 1576 steps in 12 minutes and 5 seconds. about 600 runners from 18 different countries competed in the run up the empire state building race. for more entertaining sports news, you can go to bleacherreport.com. today there's a great article that details winners and losers from national signing day. i can tell you the s.e.c. not a surprise winner on signing day, but the surprise school was ole miss. they did very, very well yesterday. >> huge day, huge day for ole miss. all right, joe, thanks a lot. one advice, if you want to get

to the top of the empire state building, take an elevator. >> can you imagine their legs and their gluts? incredible. there's been universal praise for the movie "lincoln." heck, it's nominated for 12 academy awards. but, a connecticut congressman has a problem with a key scene in it. the house debate over the 13th amendment abolishing slavery. it's a big deal. the film shows two connecticut representatives voting against it. joe courtney says that didn't happen. he's written a letter to director steven spielberg and told cnn's brian todd it's important people know his state's delegation wasn't on the wrong side of history. >> that's a source of information that a lot of people may never get any other source in terms of the history of the civil war or the 13th amendment. >> hollywood movies frequently have these kind of errors in them. and "lincoln" is an exceptionally good hollywood historical film, and so i think we have to have a certain amount of tolerance for a certain amount of error. >> not that error.

congressman courtney is asking for that part of the movie to be corrected before "lincoln" is released on dvd and blu-ray later this month. next today, advice from george mitchell. we'll have that coming up. just minutes away, spy wars between the u.s. and iran and claims that some of our cia drone secrets may have been exposed.

58 minutes past the hour. we wrap it up as always with best advice. >> here's christine. >> peace negotiator and former senate majority leader george mitchell of maine serving up a couple pieces of advice. listen. >> two bits of advice. as a young man i was told by one